Umbrella
by Sareele
Summary: A story of two strangers caught in a storm...and an unexpected romance under an umbrella. Zelink. AU. Oneshot.


Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda.

A/N: This was another random idea. I am on a sudden "must-write-Zelink" spree. Maybe it's my annoyance at the sudden rise of Link/Midna. Anyway, this is just a small little sweet story. I hope you enjoy. Oh, and there are many little winks to the Zelda world in here…I had fun working them in.

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**Umbrella**

Rain. It was funny how weather conveniently became inconvenient at the most inconvenient of times. The weatherman hadn't predicted anything besides sun for the next three days, and then the downpour came. It wasn't a light drizzle, or even a light shower. It was pouring. And it was freezing.

Link was just about to leave his office when the storm started. Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating his dark room through the two giant windows of his tenth-story office. The power had gone out a while back, and the emergency generators the starting company had only powered the computers.

The young man pushed a few stray blonde hairs out of his eyes, mentally making a note that he should trim his bangs as he shut down his computer. Then, he grabbed his trench coat and umbrella and made his way outside.

Outside, traffic slowed to snail speed as the typical accidents clogged up the streets. The streets were jam packed with the bright yellow taxicabs of citizens who were heading home from work. Many cursed, frustrated, and dialed up on their mobile phones to alert their families that they would be late.

As Link hurried down the steps of the office building, he looked outside from the windows that lined the stairwell. There were many people outside, some without umbrellas, trying to get away from the rain. Link smiled down at his umbrella. It was only drizzling in the morning when he arrived. He felt like a wimp for bringing it. Sure he could face a little moist air. But now as he looked outside at the storm, he was glad he decided to be a wimp for the day. No one had to know.

Link propped open his umbrella as he left the building, and immediately he felt the pressure of the raindrops falling on it. Wind was blowing to the right, causing him to have to angle his umbrella in order to keep the raindrops away from his clothes. At first, he heard only the steady patter of the rain on his umbrella, but soon he was alerted to the noisy honking of several cars. In front of him, near the curb, he saw a halted taxicab. The back door of the vehicle opened and a young woman stepped into the pouring rain.

He wasn't quite sure why, but Link kept watching, standing several feet away, as the young woman struggled to hold her giant purse and cell phone, drenched completely within several seconds of leaving the vehicle. The driver had also gotten out and opened the hood as angry drivers tried to get around the cab. Apparently it must have broken down, Link thought. But he kept his eyes on the young woman as she tried to use a file from her bag to keep dry. But the wind was so ruthless she soon gave up.

Link didn't know what had made him suddenly walk forward. But maybe it was the fact that he noticed the young woman was wearing ridiculous, four-inch black heels and obviously didn't know that the curb was in front of her. She gave a small yelp as she stumbled forward. And in one fluid motion, Link lunged forward and caught her in his arms while still managing to keep his umbrella over the two of them.

The young woman's face had collided with his chest. She pulled back, looking up at him with grateful eyes. Link noticed that the young woman was beautiful, with long dirty blonde stresses that stuck to her face in wet waves. She was wearing a simple black business suit with a light coat, both of which were soaked.

"I'm so sorry!" she gasped. "I think I've gotten you wet!" Link chuckled.

"You should be worried about yourself. It's freezing out here, you'll catch a cold." The young woman shook her head as if to convince him otherwise, but she sneezed. Link made an expression that foreshadowed his next words.

"I told you." The young woman giggled and separated herself from him. For the first time, he realized he had been holding her. He lightly blushed as he had the opportunity to look over her properly. She truly was beautiful, even as soaked as she was.

"Um…thank you so much for helping me. My name is Zelda Harkinian…" The young woman held out her hand.

"No problem. The name's Link. Do you live near here?" Zelda turned and pointed down the street.

"Yeah, I live in one of those apartments at the end of street. I think I can manage the walk."

"No, please, allow me. I see you don't have an umbrella with you."

"Oh, you don't have to…"

"Trust me. You don't need to get any wetter than you are." Zelda once again flashed a grateful smile.

"Thank you so much. In this weather, you don't find many nice people." She glanced over at the people that were stuck behind the broken cab. Many of them had sour expressions on their faces. Link chuckled and leaned forward a little.

"Well, then, it's a good thing you ran…I mean, fell, into me." Zelda pulled back slightly and smiled. Link mentally slapped himself when he tried to imagine what he looked like. Did he just try to flirt with a young woman he just met?

"So, shall we get going?" she asked. He didn't detect any uneasiness in her voice, so he was sure she let it pass. He nodded and held the umbrella in a way that they could stand a respectable distance apart. The rain had lessened a little, but it was still bad enough for an umbrella.

"I can't believe the weatherman told us there would be sun this weekend," Zelda said as they started to walk down the street. She was walking on the side that was nearer to the curb and Link stayed on her right.

"You know them, they never predict things right. Last week, they told us that we were likely to get a light dusting of snow, and that was the day we completely sleeted over and everything closed, and we got a foot of snow." Zelda smiled.

"I remember that."

"My younger sister was happy. She didn't have to go to school for two days."

"You have a sister? How old is she?"

"Yeah, her name's Aryll. She's sixteen."

"So…that would put her in…?"

"Eleventh grade."

"I see." The two lapsed into silence, looking around at them. The rain was slowly starting to lessen, but the streets were still filled with bright yellow cabs surrounded by a few buses and private cars. The air was filled with the sound of rain and cars honking frantically. There were relatively few people walking on the street, and the few that did stay either had umbrellas or were darting between store awnings. Everything seemed to have melted into shades of dark blue and gray, except for the bright yellow of the taxicabs, which stood out like many suns in a cloudy sky.

"So, what do you do?" Zelda suddenly asked. Link started, remembering that she was next to him.

"Well…I work in Hero Corp., the new company that just started up a year ago."

"Interesting. I work in Triforce Tower."

"No way, that's our partner in the gaming industry!"

"Yup." Link smiled down at Zelda as she looked up at him. "How long have you been there?"

"Only about a year, after I graduated from the university. My friend actually is the CEO of the company, and I'm his assistant." Zelda stared at him.

"You know what's funny? My father's the president of T.T., his best friend is the CEO, and I'm the secretary." Zelda smiled at Link. "Wow…I think we have more in common than we thought.

"Ah, so your father is Rey Harkinian? And you also spoke of Rauru Sage. I've met them, they're both very good men."

"Yes, and I believe you were talking about Darunia Goron. He's a fine young gentleman as well." Link nodded. The two once again took a break of silence. The rain picked up again. Link tilted his umbrella unconsciously to his right, and all of a sudden he felt Zelda move a little closer. He looked up and realized that she wasn't getting enough cover. He smirked and moved it farther, and she slowly moved with it until she bumped into his arm.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she said. "The rain was just…getting on me…"

"Sorry, that's my fault." Link moved the umbrella back in place, but he had to look to his side to keep from laughing. He didn't know what he found so amusing in that, but she felt really warm at his side. And his arm tingled now.

"So…do you do anything besides…work," Link asked. It sounded like a stupid question, and he hated the way he phrased it, but Zelda giggled.

"Of course, I love chemistry and experiments. I do that in my spare time. My aunt Impa has a lab in her basement. And I go there and do all sorts of things. It's almost like magic, you know? And I also read a lot. Government fascinates me, so I try to study that as often as possible. What do you do?"

"Well, I'm into horseback riding, fencing, archery…some people I know own a bit of land in the outskirts, a small ranch, and I go there to practice during my holidays. If I'm not going on a treasure hunt for half the people I know."

"Treasure hunt?"

"Yeah…I'm pretty good at finding valuable things at inexpensive prices, so I usually get 'hired' into it by my friends. One day I had to find some good jewelry that had sapphires, rubies, and emeralds. And then there were those medallions for the champions of the swordplay competition. And then all those masks for the play. And the pearls…the list just goes on and on." Zelda nodded.

"So…you are good at shopping?" Link blushed.

"Well…if you must put it that way…" Zelda laughed.

"You sound like a very interesting young man, Link. I don't know very many people who still learn the use of a sword and bow."

"And I don't know many people that perform chemical experiments in their basement. Are you sure this aunt of yours knows what she's doing?"

"Of course, she's the lead chemist of Sheikah Industries."

"That makes sense." The two nodded, having finished the string of conversation. Link looked up at the sky. It was completely dark now, and the flashing headlights of passing cars illuminated the falling rain. The road was clearer now. Link suddenly realized how long it had taken them to go down the street.

"Where is your apartment again?"

"Just past that intersection." Link nodded and looked ahead. He could make out the building she was talking about. It wasn't that far away. He felt a slight disappointment and realized that he liked talking to Zelda and that he didn't want her to leave. She was certainly one of the more interesting women he had met. And definitely the most beautiful. She didn't seem very outgoing, but not very soft either. Her hobbies showed that much. And if she studied so much in her spare time, she must have been really smart too. But he had just met her. It would be crazy to think that she would return such an interest after such a short time.

"So, do you have any plans for the evening?" Zelda asked. Link looked down at her.

"Are you kidding? In this weather? No…I'm probably going to head home and play video games with my sister or something." Zelda giggled.

"Is this your sister's choice…or yours?"

"Both. We both share a love of video games. That's why she's so excited I work for Hero Corp." Zelda nodded. Link stared at her profile. She was smiling. It was nice to see her smile.

"Well…I just plan on staying home as well. Or maybe I'll go to Impa's."

"Chemistry experiments?"

"Well…not really."

"Good thing. If you accidentally blew off the roof of her house, then her furniture might get soaked."

"What, no faith in me as a chemist?"

"I hardly know you. I'm just assuming the worst. That way, if you _don't_ blow off any roofs, then I can be impressed."

"So you do have little faith in me as a chemist."

"You just don't come off as the chemist type."

"Oh? Then what do I come off as?"

Link paused with a small smile. Zelda looked up at him with an expectant look. He looked at the inside of his umbrella as he spoke.

"You come off as…the beautiful type. One of those rare young women in a thousand that actually have a personality to go along with their beauty. Hopefully that wasn't too forward on my part." Zelda blushed and looked away. Link bit his lip and adjusted his umbrella to cover the awkward moment.

"Hmm…"

"Or maybe it's one in a million. They have to be rare. After all, in all my life, I've only met one." Zelda smiled slightly. Link looked at her, trying to see if she was smiling out of politeness or genuinely smiling.

"You know…you don't come off as just a video-game playing older brother." Link raised his eyebrows.

"Really?"

"You come off more as one of those knights or heroes, you know, the chivalrous ones? One of those rare young men in a thousand – or was it a million? – that actually have a sense of decency to go along with their good looks." Link grinned. "But I may be mistaken."

"No…no…I think you're right." Link spun his umbrella around above his head. He just noticed that it had stopped raining, but for some reason, it felt right to keep the umbrella above the two of them.

"Well, my apartment is on the other side of this street."

"Oh…so we're close."

"Yes." The two of them stopped at the corner and waited for the traffic light to change. The sun was peaking out from behind scattered clouds. The traffic had calmed down. A few cars here and there sped by on the road they had to cross, and so they waited patiently until the pedestrian sign gave them a green light.

Finally, the light turned red and the pedestrian light turned green. But before they could start walking, Link heard a car come up behind him. He turned to see a bright yellow taxicab racing down the road behind him and his eyes instantly looked to the puddle of water collected at the side of the street. He knew what would happen.

The taxicab sped past them without slowing down. Link didn't know how he had acted so fast, but he quickly pulled Zelda away from the side of the road and into his arms, shielding her from the spray of water that splashed upon the sidewalk. Link's back was entirely soaked. He had his back to the street and Zelda, completely shielded in his embrace, didn't get wet from the spray. Of course, she was still a little damp from earlier.

Link pulled away slowly, deliberately, reluctantly…taking all his time to take his head away from resting against Zelda's. He looked down at her. She had most of her face covered by his clothes, but the part of her cheek he could see was a bright red. But he noticed that she made little effort to separate herself from him. And so he stopped trying to as well, slipping his arms around her waist as she placed hers on his arms and the two of them stood there on the sidewalk for a few silent minutes. Then, Link cleared his throat and pulled away, using the excuse of searching for his umbrella that he had dropped when he grabbed her.

"You're all wet," Zelda said softly. Link gave a small smile as he gazed at her blushing face. "You'll catch a cold."

"Déjà vu…" he replied, trailing off as he took her shoulder and led her across the street. The two kept silent until they stood in front of Zelda's apartment. Before Zelda went inside, she turned and smiled at Link.

"Thanks for saving me…twice…from the water…" she said. Link smiled.

"Hey, it's all in a day's work for a hero." He smirked and winked at her.

"Will we meet again?" Link thought for a moment.

"You tell me, you're the chemist. Can't you analyze the chemistry between us?"

"I suppose, but I will need much time and many more experiment days."

"All my time is yours."

"Good…then I'm sure we'll find something convenient." Zelda reached forward and gave Link a small kiss on the cheek. "Until our next meeting…?"

"Until our next meeting," Link replied and brushed Zelda's cheek with his lips. Then, with a small smile, he left her to return to her apartment as he walked away, his umbrella resting on his shoulder.

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